Healthier, More Literate Latino Communities
Casa Oportunidades NOLA, a program of St. Anna's Episcopal Church in New Orleans, provides educational opportunities and other resources to the Latino community, promotes successful integration, alleviates the isolation that immigrants often experience, and reduces barriers resulting from language, culture and race.
About You
About You
First Name
Jamie
Last Name
McDaniel
Website
Organization
Casa Oportunidades NOLA
Country
United States, LA, Orleans Parish
About Your Organization
Organization Name
St. Anna's Episcopal Church
Organization Website
Organization Phone
504-947-2121
Organization Address
1313 Esplanade Avenue, New Orleans LA 70116
Organization Country
United States, LA, Orleans Parish
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Your idea
Name Your Project
Healthier, More Literate Latino Communities
Country your work focuses on
United States, LA, Orleans Parish
Describe Your Idea
Casa Oportunidades NOLA, a program of St. Anna's Episcopal Church in New Orleans, provides educational opportunities and other resources to the Latino community, promotes successful integration, alleviates the isolation that immigrants often experience, and reduces barriers resulting from language, culture and race.
Website URL
Innovation
What makes your idea unique?
Casa Oportunidades NOLA is unique in that we provide Latino immigrants a "one-stop shop" for educational, health, counseling, and legal services. In acknowledgment of our distinctive approach, New Orleans City Business honored our program with a NonProfit Innovator Award (2007).
All services are provided regardless of religion or any other factor. We maintain a strict "no-proselytization" policy with respect to our mission work.
Through a focus on integrated, community driven and sustainable solutions, we have developed the following core areas of the program:
(1.) English classes five (5) night a week, serving approximately 120 students, from beginners to advanced levels; (2.) tutoring and extra help, as needed; (3.) assistance with obtaining social services such as doctor's appointments, childcare, and basic needs assistance; (4.) translation and interpretation services, provided free of charge; (5.) computer literacy training; (6.) assistance identifying language-appropriate services, including "I speak" cards in interactions with service providers; (7.) guest presentations and workshops ranging from combating stress and depression, preventing domestic violence, hurricane preparedness, sexual health, workplace safety, and general health topics.
Additionally, through the local Mexican Consulate, our program is a designated distance education center ("Plaza Comunitara"), where Mexicans may finish coursework needed for Mexican primary or secondary school certificates. This program is also available to citizens of most other Latin American countries through reciprocity agreements.
Do you have a patent for this idea?
Impact
This Entry is about (Issues)
What impact have you had?
Latino adults benefit from Casa Oportunidades NOLA's programs by learning how to speak, read and write in the English language and to use computers; learning about mental and physical health topics, workplace safety, hurricane preparedness, and legal rights; receiving referrals to professionals in all of these areas; and becoming part of a welcoming community that decreases their sense of alienation.
Since our program's founding in 2006, the overwhelming majority of participants have consistently met learning goals and many have credited the ESL program for improved employment success and relationships with the police, neighbors and employers. In all, 500+ students have graduated from the program.
Broader societal gains include a more well-adjusted workforce producing results that ripple through the local economy. Casa Oportunidades NOLA also plays a key role in fostering greater understanding and mutual acceptance between the native-born and immigrant commmunities of New Orleans; and facilitates cultural and linguistic sharing between the diverse populations.
Further, as one ESL student stated in a program evaluation, "I've never considered myself as just a client here receiving services, but rather a member of the community. I think we all [referring to the other students] want to contribute to make this community thrive."
Problem
Latino adults in New Orleans urgently need to learn English, for their own sake as well as the sake of their children. According to the U.S. Census, Latinos in Orleans Parish tend to have very low incomes, which are associated with poor English language skills: in 2007 their per capita income was just $15,906, which is over $8,000 below the average income for all people in the Parish, and over $10,000 below the average income for all Americans.
Due to Hurricane Katrina, many Latinos came to assist in the rebuilding of New Orleans. With this in mind, many found New Orleans a place they would like to call "home." As a result, ESL is not an end-all answer to the needs of this population. In addition to the many challenges posed by a non-English speaking populace, are a variety of other issues, health care and legal rights among them.
Special Note: The demand for ESL classes and other services is greater than we and other local service area providers can meet, and we consistently maintain a waiting list of at least 25.
Actions
When students enter our program, they are given a five-minute oral evaluation based on the ExpressWays placement test. Students are given a numerical score depending on their ability to understand and respond to the questions, as well as the grammatical correctness and fluency of their answers. Students are placed in one of four classes, or levels, based on their scores. They are re-tested at the end of each semester, with the goal of moving them into progressively higher-level classes.
The classes, which focus on conversation and survival English, integrate reading and writing, grammar structures, and vocabulary. English is taught through a graduated immersion model, beginning with bilingual instruction and gradually eliminating the students' first language from the classroom as an English vocabulary is established.
This model takes into account the varied education levels of the students in the program, which range from no schooling at all to university-level education (the majority have attended only elementary school).
In addition, Casa Oportunidades NOLA recognizes the need for services beyond ESL. Guest presentations and workshops on diverse topics are provided.
Results
In 2010 the following numbers of clients will:
• Begin and regularly participate in ESL classes: 180
• Remain in ESL classes for continuous periods of six months or longer: 120
• Advance at least one level in English language proficiency: 100
• Receive referrals to health, legal and/or education professionals: 60
• Participate in trainings focused on issues such as mental and physical health, workplace safety, hurricane preparedness, legal rights, and computer skills: 150
• Receive direct assistance in their search for language-appropriate services, including “I speak” cards that they can show to service providers: 1,000
• Participate in planning and implementing events: 40
• Express strong satisfaction with our program’s services in response to surveys to be conducted at the end of the project year: 90%
What will it take for your project to be successful over the next three years? Please address each year separately, if possible.
Casa Oportunidades NOLA has grown substantially since 2007 because clients have recommended us to their friends and family. Our success is a testment to buy-in from the community. To guarantee overall client satisfaction we plan to implement anonymous surveys in order to solicit more nuanced feedback. This process will take place in early 2011, and again at the end of the year.
Further, as many scholars have noted, a consensus on best practices in ESL education is still in formation. In 2012, our program plans to further improve its programming by engaging the services of a nationally-known consultant in the field of ESL research who will introduce staff to recent developments in the field, as well as leading scholars and resource organizations.
In 2013, as our program continues to grow and thrive, we will require additional classrooms and space for administration.
What would prevent your project from being a success?
A lack of funding would hinder our program's efforts. As well, given our community-driven approach, we depend on buy-in from the people we serve. Their lack of support would cause our program not to be successful.
How many people will your project serve annually?
101‐1000
What is the average monthly household income in your target community, in US Dollars?
$100 ‐ 1000
Does your project seek to have an impact on public policy?
Yes
Sustainability
What stage is your project in?
Operating for 1‐5 years
Is your organization a
Non‐profit/NGO/citizen sector organization
Is your initiative connected to an established organization?
Yes
If yes, provide organization name.
St. Anna's Episcopal Church
How long has this organization been operating?
More than 5 years
Does your organization have a Board of Directors or an Advisory Board?
Yes
Does your organization have a non-monetary partnerships with NGOs?
Yes
Does your organization have a non-monetary partnerships with businesses?
Yes
Does your organization have a non-monetary partnerships with government?
Please tell us more about how these partnerships are critical to the success of your innovation.
Thanks to collaborative partnerships, we have been able to improve and expand our services to underserved Latino immigrants in the Greater New Orleans area. We continue to make strides in providing for the comprehensive needs of this population.
Casa Oportunidades NOLA has become active with the Language Access Coalition of New Orleans, which seeks to ensure that limited English proficient community members have access to vital public services, as required by federal law.
REACH NOLA, which improves quality health care in New Orleans, collaborates with the health sessions and the Language Access projects.
We also regularly partner with the Hispanic Public Safety Initiative, Loyola Wage Claims Clinic, Common Ground Health Clinic, Puentes New Orleans, United Neighborhood Organization, Esperanza Charter School, and the ESL programs at the Hispanic Apostolate/Catholic Charities and at Grace Methodist Church, in addition to other missions at St. Anna’s Episcopal Church.
What are the three most important actions needed to grow your initiative or organization?
1. Continuing to make community-driven development empowering, rather than rhetorical.
2. Strenghtening the capacity of Latino immigrant communities to play a greater role in their own development.
3. Identifying additional community partnerships for collaborations and capacity building.
The Story
What was the defining moment that you led to this innovation?
When an influx of Latinos arrived in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina to help in the rebuilding, Casa Oportunidades NOLA was formed in response to the critical need for new services.
It only took a couple of weeks before we witnessed the positive impact this program was having on New Orleans' Latino community. What had started out as a few "survival" English language courses taught several nights a week had grown into a robust program providing many other necessary services to this community.
Tell us about the social innovator behind this idea.
Jamie McDaniel is the Director of Social Services at Casa Oportunidades NOLA. A graduate of the New College of Florida, Ms. McDaniel is a certified ESL teacher and medical interpretor with more than five years of teaching experience.
In 2006, following Hurricane Katrina, Ms. McDaniel began tutoring a few Hispanic workers in English. Having prior experience as a teacher in Guatemala, her goal was to help the students become more productive members of the New Orleans community; and to provide them with access to social services. Teaching wherever she could -- sometimes on porches, sometimes outdoors in the Ninth Ward -- she set up shop at St. Anna's Episcopal Church in the Treme neighborhood and word began to spread.
Subsequently, in response to other needs of this community, Ms. McDaniel began providing other services such as interpretations and help for dealing with legal documents and health care needs. The program continued to grow and soon had three levels of classes. It was soon thereafter turned into a program of St. Anna's Episcopal Church.
How did you first hear about Changemakers?
Through another organization or company
If through another, please provide the name of the organization or company
Philanthropy News Digest
 | 93 weeks agoJames Geraghty updated this Competition Entry. |
| 93 weeks agoJames Geraghty submitted this idea. |
